The Daily Zeitgeist - KD, You ARE a Phoenix Sun with Aaron Edwards

Episode Date: March 2, 2023

Jack and Producer Jabari were pleased to be joined by comedian, writer and podcaster Aaron Edwards on this week's show! Beyond discussing KD's new fit with Aaron's Suns, the trio also continued an ongoing discussion about the league's top performers and the various playoff races.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.

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Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. Well, well, well, we're back again. So is the NBA, and I gotta read this word for word. That's what producer Jabari has it written here. You probably don't want to do that.

The Valley of the Sun officially has a new superstar. That is beautiful. Just a lot of heavens-based wording. I like it. I like it. Solar. Very solar. Giannis has some thoughts and advice for KD

and other stars thinking about linking up to form super teams. Plus, the Knicks are suddenly the second hottest team in the league we'll discuss that each playoff race with comedian and writer aaron edwards on today's episode i'm jack o'brien and i'm jabari davis and this is miles and jack nice we i mean we basically like harmonized on that one that was beautiful i think it was aaron how do you feel about that? No, that was good. Professional podcasting, right? It's like, it's a beautiful thing.

Aaron, thank you so much. Crooked media writer, comedian from Gary, Indiana. You were a fan of someone named Michael Jordan when you were coming up. Tell me about that person. I didn't think he was going to start with that one, but yeah um i thought we were going straight to the second one okay yeah i'm from gary indiana it's like 45 minutes from chicago so yeah like it's just it's pretty much chicago they call it each chicago out there it's just uh it was before chicago went crazy but yeah like we grew up out there and it was just a huge bulls place.

Like even before we moved here, I had all the championship t-shirts. We had the bulls t-shirts with the rings, like the ones that were the three rings. We have the ones. Oh yeah. Well, the two rings,

like we had all that. We went to universal studios dressed in those shirts. Like we really, we really. Do you have the one that was like all the uh caricatures of the players like the championship team with with the big cartoon heads uh yeah we had that one i had the ones with them as babies like we had those i underrated having players grown grown men drawn as babies and then you also had the penny fit.

Oh, yeah. The penny thing was just, it was the game changer. Like, it was middle of the 90s. Penny, like, it was a hand-me-down, too. Like, this dude from our church, her son grew too big, and he gave it to me. And I wore it like it was brand new. Like, it was the freshest thing I've ever seen. It was new to you.

Yeah, it was just, it was penny. Like, it was pretty much the second coming of magic like he was cool he had little penny like the commercials like all of it like everything about penny was just cool and i was i wore it as much as i could my mom would have to be like no no yesterday you did this like no we're not doing it again like she had to physically like make me not wear it every day there was a moment in the 90s where Penny was the most exciting player in the NBA. Like in my opinion, he was just like the coolest. He had the coolest ad campaign.

He had like the coolest name. He just seemed awesome. And like, I feel like it's kind of faded because his career didn't necessarily like follow the path everybody was hoping for it to. But that was a real moment i mean both his names are cool like penny and anthony go kind of hard like i would if you're playing the what if game penny hardaway if he doesn't get injured you know early on what's his career look like i think i've been shack win one oh okay yeah yeah i mean they lost

because nick anderson can't make a free throw Like he just had to make one and he missed what four in a row. Like I think if it was enough, what ifs to be able to say that they could have probably won one. That was a better hot take than mine. I was going to say, I bet he would be pretty good if he didn't get it. I think that's accurate. No,

no, no, no. Don't sell yourself short. So shall we get on to the celestial based superstar in the Valley of the Sun? Of course, referring to Kevin Durant, who is set to have joined the Suns in in-game action last night. So you guys probably know more about how it looks than we do. But I mean, the Suns are already the four seed.

Like they that's shocking like katie's said you guys are blowing my mind right now i'm kidding and you are joining us from two weeks ago so yeah you it's a real time warp here but yeah i don't know they're four games back of the king so they're probably like gonna stick in that four spot or worse these super teams like sometimes take a little while to get going get everything gelling and they don't have a while to take really in this case so it is interesting but i just i i feel very badly for whoever has them in the first round like whether they're the four seed five seed six seed doesn't matter where they land. Yeah, that's not going to be, nobody's going to be happy about that.

Yeah, I think teams usually have a lot more time to figure it out. Like 20 games is really pushing it. I think it's less than 20 actually. So it's going to be like 19, 18 games to figure out before the playoffs, like how these dudes play together. But I think just even running the same plays

for Kevin Durant that they ran from McHale is just going to work. Even if Kevin kevin dress not even like 100 yet it's a lot of open shop people get and book doesn't have to get doubled all the time anymore which is nice so yeah i think it's gonna be a pretty decent plug and play thing but i also think that first round series is still gonna be a warm-up by the second round series i think we should probably know what this team is yeah so you're saying it's already a foregone conclusion that they're be a warmup by the second round series. I think we should probably know what the team is. Yeah. So you're saying it's already a foregone conclusion that they're going to make it to the second round.

Yeah, I really do. Like that was the biggest problem with the suns last time. It was when book was slow. Where was the, where were those buckets coming from? Because when the game got close, it was really hard.

I think Chris Paul went 14 for 14 one game, but he, now he doesn't have to do any of that. It was just really tough sometimes with how money staggered minutes in the second unit and scoring. And now we don't have to, we can have book or Katie on the floor at all times. And that's going to be really close. Yeah.

And it's pretty wild to be saying like it's a foregone conclusion because who they would be playing in the first round, like it could be like as of right now would be the clippers who i think a lot of people had making a deep run um the mavericks are right there like that it feels like it's going to be one of those two teams probably or or the warriors which i guess that that would be a little less surprising to see them just get kind of swept aside because this has been a weird season for them I guess but yeah you use the phrase plug and play I feel like KD is the most plug and play superstar that we've seen like there's just no

question that he's gonna fit in wherever he goes like just having a guaranteed bucket is always helpful yeah and he even talks about like how much he knows book they were in the olympics together which i think helps like he knows his game a little bit more and yeah it's just two dudes that love their hoops i think that's kind of like the easy part yeah you can run the offenses and do like the pick and rolls and all that but sooner or later like in playoffs sometimes it just comes down to needing a bucket and I'd much rather have Katie than not. Yeah. Yeah.

The ultimate bucket. So let's get into the mess a little bit. Giannis went on the daily show and was basically, he was asked to talk on Katie and his response was, you keep joining super teams to win an NBA title. How about we work out together sometime? I thought this was going to go in the direction of him being like, can you come join me so we can win a title together?

But instead he said, so I can teach you how to carry your own team. That is disrespect. This is something that we've noticed and talked about on this show throughout like like there there was that like it's never been at this level with him talking to another superstar in such a highly public thing but there was the serge abaca cooking show where he said like some of the coldest words to a human that i think it's just like with a smile as always because like that's the thing is

like his general demeanor is so friendly that like we assume that he's a friendly person and then he just says these things that you see people's face felt like their spirit leave their body yeah it's like he's kind of using up like the good, I mean, first of all, let me clear this up. Like since as a person that has a finger to the pulse of the comedy writing and stuff, somebody wrote those jokes for him.

He probably couldn't have said it, but I know a couple of people that wrote those jokes. He didn't have to say them, but he seemed very happy to say those jokes. So yeah, like I think he's kind of used up a little bit of it, like the good finals run that he had and like used up a little bit of it like the good finals run that he had and like all that but i like it like at first he kind of came off as like

this like encino man it was like just showing this all this cool stuff he's like oh shucks this is cool like a playstation oreos have you guys tried it you heard of it yeah but i feel like that's part of it right like he didn't he didn't come up in the aau game like he's not like friendly and like in on like these relationships that everybody's been cultivating and he's also like he just seems to be like really naively just being like well i'm the best player in the world so why wouldn't i say this to people i'm better than them and what is he gonna do he's gonna get mad and like beat me that's i'm i'm better than him so why would why would i worry about that look i'm a i'm 100 here

for mask off yannis give me supreme players talking supreme mess you know i mean give me every step shimmy you can possibly give me give me yannis absolutely crushing souls and then smiling about it like after the fact i'm not one of those guys that wants everyone to be humble simply for my comfort i like it when folks are braggadocious so please bring me more of this yannis you did say before num num num num num feed me more daddy uh before we started recording which was a little weird but i did want to just make sure that you everybody heard that what was the thing he said to grant williams during the all-star break yeah like out of note again you know what you know what i'm gonna equate him to you guys are not black southerners but i will say if you know of any it's like when black folks from the south say bless your heart

they don't really mean that they don't really mean that as a compliment that means like oh look at you you're special like that that is that is so special of you but yeah he's sitting with a saying it with a smile and he's sitting there because grant got in his shot as he was recording says hey get your ugly out of the way but saying it with a smile and you know i'm here for it like a russian accent apparently well you know what i'm not here for the accents i think it's cooler but it comes off wrong that he is learning our customs just because like it's still brand new to him like when i was in high school yes calling your friends ugly was something you did every single day yeah of course just like

yo what time are you going to biology or when are you studying for this ugly like it was just a thing how you do it but Just it coming from him. It just comes off a little. It hits the ear a little wrong, I guess. Right. People kind of just are like, dang,

is Giannis kind of mean? A little bit. But it's good. Like he can get away with it. I feel like the match of like his personality to these words is the most fun example of this. Like anybody else, I'd be like, he's trying too hard or he's like

you know like going with he's trying to be a face or whatever like you know the bad guy the like if mb'd started doing this i'd be like all right man tone it down like i don't know with him it's just yeah it's like funny yeah it just seems silly and lighthearted dame also chimed in on this subject because pia everyone's like, you stayed in Portland. What do you have to say about it? And he made his quote about Russell Westbrook mainly, which felt a little mean. He was like, you look at Russell Westbrook, you leave OKC for Houston. Then James decided he's leaving. Now Russ has traded to DC. Then you get traded from DC to the Lakers.

Now you're on your fourth team in four years and your second year on the team. Everybody is talking about how they should trade you. Now you're coming off the bench. This dude is a Hall of Famer, an MVP. It's an example that the grass isn't always greener. That's true. It also

feels like Russell Westbrook didn't have any say in any of those trades other than the first one right and okc was going to start talking about trying to trade him pretty soon if he hadn't asked out because like his game just kind of fell apart in terms of what people were looking for from him and like whether you could build a winning team around him it felt like people were out on him and so it's not necessarily Westbrook's fault. It's one of those where I don't think he's intentionally being disrespectful for, you know, towards Westbrook, but he's absolutely using him as a, you know, as a case study

and, and recognizing, Hey, look, as much as it might've been nice to hop on a bandwagon, that's a bit of conjecture. I'm not saying that he said that, but it might be nice to ring chase. You just never know. And you don't have control once, you know, once that ball starts rolling. But,

you know, you notice in the quote, he does say he's an MVP. He's done this. He's done that. And I think that's because he's recognizing like, oh, this is probably going to be misconstrued.

Yeah. And I don't even really consider him going to the Lakers as ring chasing. Like, you know, exactly going to like one of as ring chasing like no exactly going to like one of the best teams in the league he just was going home so i really think he was ring chasing and also part of me thinks like dame what didn't say this to be mean but maybe subconsciously it sort of was because him and russ have had some battles and they've gotten

real chippy with each other and get some like real intense trash talk like regularly like russ has said that what that i busted you up like 10 times in a row now or something like that like yeah at a point when dame was like on a really big losing streak against them and russ let him know it so i figure maybe this might be one of those times where dame was letting you know that the law he was playing a long game and it's looking rough out here. I think this was intended with malice. I think he was like, I'm going to ether him in the nicest way possible with this quote. He's that he's the meme of the guy showing up to his enemy's funeral.

Like that's essentially what he's doing right now. All right. All right. We do have to talk about Dame though, because as predicted, we said, keep an eye on Dame. He's been on one. We read like his talk about Dame though, because as predicted, we said, keep an eye on Dame. He's been on one. We read like his point totals for, you know, the past 10 games in a row.

And this past week he put up 71. It's the season of 71. He matched Donovan Mitchell's 71 and went over the Rockets. I highly recommend what we'll link off to it in the show notes. Uh, but the, recommend we'll link off to it in the show notes uh but the just a compilation of every bucket is really fun like there's just something about dame when he's locked in that is like supernatural i've talked about it with clay before that like he's just he's just kind of flicking it at the rim and knows it's going in like he's like as long as the ball leaves my hand is going in when when he's locked in and like dame has something going, but it's no less just out of body to witness when he just has it going. Once he crosses the half-court line, you're just like, all right, he's a threat, basically. These types of games tend to come in bunches with him.

There was that time towards the end of... In the bubble, he was like this a little bit, right? Just completely locked in. Yeah. In 2015, it was when the Warriors were going on that run when Steph got hurt. No, it was right before All-Star break. It was a February game and I was living in Portland then. And so we went to Moda and watched the Portland versus the Warriors and he dropped 51, 52. And it was one of the smoothest 52s I've ever seen. So smooth. It was just so easy for him. And he wasn't even shooting like this yet.

He was shooting kind of deep, but he wasn't just confidently just, I got the green light pulling up from deep. It's crazy now. I'm interested from both of you guys guys who are the guys that you've been most scared of as an opponent when they get it going you know you know jack alluded to clay earlier you know obviously y'all know i'm gonna say bean yeah dame for me honestly but for right now i'm not saying he's the best player in the league i'm not obviously i'm not saying that i'm not even saying he's the best at his position but he's the guy that scares me the most when he gets it going so when i was seven years old my dad was an assistant for the knicks

and they went against jordan in the playoff and that was terrifying because like he was dominating like he would just take the ball away from you on the defensive end and he was also at the height of his scoring ability like it was when he was like putting up you know 30 something like high 30s a game that was crazy if you guys have heard of him michael jordan who's a play for the bulls back then um yeah familiar i think for me like other than luca after what he did to us last year like right now um historically i would probably say yeah it would probably be shortened too but uh kairi like once because you already know he can get by you and he's hitting tough layups and he's just hitting you to death and just once he's hitting threes too like once that starts falling then you really gotta you gotta respect the three he Hezzy you from three and get to the rim and get fouled.

Like all of it. Like once Kyrie gets going, it's just really tough to really stop. Who has the most realistic shot at surpassing 80? That's a good question. Tatum has the will and probably the ability to do it at some point. Cause of how, how kind of locked in their

offense seems luca definitely yeah seems like he's he's got the ability but i think it's dame i really do i think it's yeah i think he has the biggest green light he doesn't have the support and cast to take away from it and if he likes it nobody's gonna be like dame give me the ball right yeah he's gonna be like i guess dame's the ball. Like, it's going to be like, I guess Dame's cooking. Let's just sit back and watch this. And I think he just has the most realistic chance to do it. Yeah.

And he has the ball in his hands when he's like, bring the ball to court. So it's like, yeah, Tatum is probably my answer for the modern, like most terrifying person to go against is Tatum when he's got it going. Cause, but that has more to do with the psychological baggage of being a

fan and knowing we could have had him and actually traded down to or traded up to like get away it's just i don't know jack i didn't share the tweet with you when somebody pointed out that you guys could have had you know mb tatum and who else was who was the third guy it was another star it was like three drafts in a row where Tatum, McHale Bridges. There's another star in there and I can't remember who it is now. It's a fun game. It's a fun game of

what if. It's just fun to talk about. It's a normal caller. Find a new topic. Alright, let's take a quick break. We'll come right back. I'm going to go weep a new topic. All right, let's take a quick break. We'll come right back. I'm going to go weep a little bit. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin,

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today like who they think is the best player and they still think lebron is the best player which feels like some of this feels a little bit like they just pulled people who like know about the nba and and i know that's not true but like i feel like this is the same results as you would get if you pulled my wife and like her friends in some cases my girlfriend would say lebron so that's true yeah like it's just like these are the names everybody's heard of this is that's not fair i'm i am mad that was not in the top seven but neither was tatum so you got lebron yokich yannis kd staff luca kairi kairi always does really well with players and player polls because what he does is so... He's like

part magician. His shot making and ball handling is truly one of the wildest things to behold. I don't know. All the quotes were kind of boring. I'm not a big fan of this article.

It sounds like it. to that point and actually tying it to you know what you let in with the jermaine jones quote it's predictable you know it's it's lebron james the body of work and what he's currently doing at this age it makes him the best you know like of his time what i actually relate that to is not only is you know obviously he played he played alongside of you know he played alongside and we played in the league at the time when he played yeah but i think older guys and somewhat understandably it's that much more impressive that he's still doing it at this point so i think that might be influencing a bit of the bias there yeah yeah and most of them played with him you know most of these former players played with him or played against him at some point so you know aba i think he was around back in the aba era like just after yeah

no i mean lebron's like my favorite player in the league like the person i'm rooting for the most like in the league still to this day so like i get it i'm not i'm i'm just salty about the thing the yokich, a player said, Nikola Jokic because he dominates the game on both ends of the floor and makes his teammate better. So that was from Lee Nalon. Okay.

I remember Lee Nalon. Dominates both ends is an interesting quote for Jokic. He can make a half a half court shot and make that with the outlet pass on that side of the basket. Yeah. So, you know,

I'm the leader of the Jokic bandwagon for this particular season that I've already stated. I do think he will eventually earn that third in a row, but we don't have to lie, man. Like, and, and yes,

he's, he's significantly better defensively than seemingly a lot of people will give him credit for but we don't have to lie and say that he dominates you know like on both ends like come on which is why when you asked lebron and janice to like pick their number one starter who they wanted on their all-star team they were fighting over who could pick jokic last the last pick and b was the first pick they play against these guys now not in the past 10th sorry uh all right but i am not biased so this is let's get into the performances of the week obviously we talked about dame that was a lot of fun. The Knicks beat Boston, which I'm usually a fan of anyone beating Boston.

And New York has now won six straight. They're messing up the bracket. They're putting me in a mind state where I'm going to have to be seeing the Sixers play the Heat in the first round, possibly, which is not my preference would be the Knicks. I'll just say. And that would probably

come back to haunt me if it did happen. I was going to say, be prepared for all types of, oh, this you? This you? On the timeline if they do happen to lose to the Knicks. Brunson is just really, I don't know. I don't think a lot of people saw them being

this good with this team coming in. Brunson is really backed up and earned his ability to be the best player on a competitive team. Yeah, Brunson, he did a sin last summer, so I knew it. I was kind of glad he was getting his own team.

I didn't think that Dallas was going to get Kyrie to replace them, but Brunson, he's strong. He gets to the basket. He gets fouled. Like dude is a bucket. He can play.

I'm glad he got his own squad too. Yeah. But currently they'd be matched up with the Cavs in a four or five matchup that would be really fun. Just a rock fight. I'm imagining at some points, but yeah, I mean, there are people who can get buckets on both teams. Like the Lakers-Dallas game, I tend to just inherently root against Dallas.

And I do root for the Lakers because of Jabari and Miles and LeBron, my three best friends. But this was just one of my favorite games of the season. Watching the Lakers come from behind, AD kind of finally putting it together, like starting to feel like maybe the Lakers have something here. AD looked awesome. Like it was, that game was fun. And Vanderbilt was who like I was most excited about after that game. And then obviously LeBron's foot injury happened and we don't know but it's kind of throwing some water on all the excitement I was feeling after that game yeah I like Vanderbilt's game I wanted him to be a son so bad but we also needed the picks that everybody wanted for her KD so it was

either pretty much everybody I wanted in free agency because I thought the KD thing was dead went somewhere else because we were just playing the slow, quiet game. But yeah, I wanted Vanderbilt to really play for us. I wanted Beasley at some point too, but it seems like Utah and Danny H were not messing with

us at all when it came to trade talks. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out to my guys Vando and Beasley. My cinnamon and sugar mix. No, that's a callback of erin from last week we had the incredible sarah todd on and um she was wet blanketing all of my happiness but no like jack you made a great point that was such a fantastic game and you know i'll be honest with you hearing the injury news after the fact definitely you know kind of takes the wind from your sails.

The D-low injury on top of that is another one of those things where it's like, just when they finally put some pieces out there that make some sense, this continues to be the case. But you know what? To your original point, I'm going to keep the faith with AD. I think he finds a way to carry i still think they make the play in um you know i i don't care about the this you and and all of the key keys that are going to come as a result of them not making it you gotta believe we believe that's one thing a laker fan gonna have it's gonna be a lot of belief whether it's founded or not and you know what quite frankly we've been spoiled that's the reason We've been spoiled because more often than not, it does work out.

Not always, but a lot of times it has. So I have been sitting here and witnessing Aaron Jabari and Miles's hope for everything to come together with, you know, just being like, oh, guys oh guys guys this team stinks this team is no good this dallas game i was like this is actually something and i will i will say lebron was a defensive liability in in that game and has been for a lot of this yeah like he was there were some times where the even the commentators were like yo why did he just like not even move towards the shooter on that one? So I don't know. We'll have to see what it looks like without him. But I could see them just like, you know, putting on a run here, even without LeBron.

And I don't think D'Lo being out hurts that necessarily. I'm not a huge D'Lo believer, but just for perspective, it's more from the playmaking aspect without LeBron in there. All of a sudden, a sudden it's like okay so who's going to make entry passes okay so who's going to create who it really is going to be a matter of these guys are going to have to come out and defend like crazy and make threes and you know what i'm not going to hold my breath but i'm going to be hopeful yeah sixers grizz game was a lot of fun. Had me being like, maybe I can send a text being like, Eastern Conference Finals, maybe? Because I have been a steadfast believer that this team does not get out of the second round

just ever, the 76ers. Embiid looked terrible offensively. Looked like he, yeah, just real slow start but then just like defensively kind of dominated and they came back and beat the grizz but then a couple losses to the celtics in the heat i'm pretty psychologically damaging i think for for that team you're not still on that emotional high from that block i gotta be honest with you i would you're a better man than me because i would have been texting non-stop you saw that you see what's up jump with me and become no get that out of here yeah for the game that was very fun

this is unbelievable look how high both of them are You almost cannot believe what you're seeing. Oh my God. Wow. This is unbelievable. Look how high both of them are. I think people are just excited to see the Grizz lose, especially like that. There's the new us. Like I remember how much, how much people hated us last year and just thought like we hadn't earned

all the trash we were talking. So it's good to see like what happened to somebody else. Like, even though I enjoyed them, it's just funny saying it'd be somebody else while we just get to kick it and sneak into the playoffs now. Yeah. I think you guys are still you actually.

I think the Katie I'm, I'm now rooting for them. Cause I always root for Katie and LeBron, but like, I think people are going to be haters. Oh, big big time especially if they come out and and they're just wrecking shop that people will absolutely hate and chris falls on the team like it's easy to root for a team with chris fall on it that's why i knew the hate was coming sooner or later it waited a couple months and we were excited and fun because we had young dudes but the hate is always gonna come when you

have chris fall and it's earned i hated him before he got here so at least you're honest okay at least you're honest the clippers have had like two wild games since the westbrook trade they've had two like incredible games that are just like all timers and they lost both of them like at the very end but kawaii looks incredible i I don't know. I still think they're a bad matchup for anyone, even the Suns. So they have the second highest scoring game of all time.

Kings versus Clippers, 176-175. Yeah. 45 for Monk, 44 for Kawhi, 42 for Fox, and Russ debuted with 17 points, 14 assists, 5 boards and 7 turnovers. The gift and the curse.

But who is the team you least want to see in the first round? I think it's Dallas. It's just animosity and Luka and just the whole thing. We're better even than we were last year. Technically we would win, but it's just the Luka. We're better even than we were last year. Technically, we would win,

but it's just the Lucaness of it all. I hate it watching it. KD is like, yeah, it's fine having him. I just don't want to play them again. It was just too much. Yeah. It won't go that much longer. It won't go as long as last time.

But yeah, I just don't want to do that again. The real, real answer of a team that I know would just be tougher is New Orleans if Zion comes back. Because that team was really good and Willie Green knows how to play us. Like he coached our team and he just knew everything that we were running.

And Brandon Ingram just was killing us. So I think that would just be He coached our team and he just knew everything that we were running. Brandon Ingram just was killing us. So I think that would just be probably a lot more fun to watch. I actually think you'd be fine. For some reason, this was the first Dallas game that I've been super invested in and rooting against them this season. And I felt like they didn't quite have it. can we go back to game seven of last year like what as a as a suns fan like what is your feeling on that was it just like a weird thing were people like sick not feeling well like what what do you think happened in that game like how are you making sense of that heading into this year's playoff um it was weird because game six i was like i don't

like how that looked because like game six looked bad like body language wise like all of it like the vibe none of it looked good and even the way that they were talking leading up to it like it sounded like they didn't even believe the stuff they were saying right i played basketball with like a bunch of people like uh my friend pat and like Mike and all of them, like they either like write for the Suns or draw for them or like take photos at the games. And I was like, like, it was just weird vibes. Even when we were hooping, like we were getting ready to go back home. I was like, game seven tonight. Like, no, it was like nobody wanted to even talk about it.

It was just like really weird energy. Like even we were playing basketball in the morning and when it was happening, I wasn't super shocked just because it game six just like really weird energy. Like even when we were playing basketball in the morning and when it was happening, I wasn't super shocked just because it game six just seemed so weird. It didn't seem like they had it. Yeah. As a fan, you know,

when your team is done, like I'm going to, I'll give you a quick, uh, 2011, the playoffs, Lakers, your Lakers are faced,

you know, matched up with the Mavericks in, in the round two, after game one, all my boys were like, oh, it's all good. It's all good. I honest to God, I was like, yeah, I don't know. After game one, all my boys were like, oh, it's all good. It's all good.

I honest to God, I was like, yeah, I don't know. After game two, same thing. My boys were like, oh, it's all good. No, man. All you gotta do is take care of business. No, it was over. And honestly, when a certain team and or player, like in this case in Luka,

when he takes your soul, he takes your soul. So I understand why you don't want to necessarily face them. And you didn't even mention Kyrie in that matchup. Yeah. yeah yeah and that was what he did it with jaylen brunson i mean they are worse without fanny smith killed us he had like eight threes in like two games or something like that like he went off to and spencer jim woody was out playing book coming off the bench like it was just all of them were just going off and getting open shots and like a lot of those dudes aren't on a team anymore that's why i'm not really worried but yeah it was just the vibes were just bad that time this time i just don't want to do it just because of

luca and just the crying and it'll be chippy for no reason that's why i wouldn't like about it it would be the no reason chippiness like you're gonna lose why are you being so chippy about this and that's what i don't want to do it yeah that makes sense um that's how i feel about the celtics the heat let's see who else uh yeah yeah that's a tough series no matter what and you just yeah jim butler is just 30 better in the playoffs for no reason that anybody's been able to explain to me. It's just that much tougher. All right, let's go with the NBA broadcast call of the week. Chris Boucher's dunk earns a

bar from Raptors play-by-play guy Matt Devlin. Let's play it. took off in montreal landed in toronto that is absolutely a bar that does just sound like a stray drake lyric actually it kind of is actually are we sure it's not geography wise i don't know what's closer or further. Sometimes it's hard enough to know location on the map, stuff like that. So, yeah, it seems far, though. Drake would have been rapping about doing that at 4 a.m. in the morning and being sad.

Taking off in Montreal, landing in Toronto. All right, we're going to take a break. We're going to come back and it's going to be Aaron, the fastest segment in podcasting. Did you just hear Jabari say, because that's the sound that this segment is going to make

as it rushes by your head. Got it. Yeah. All right. We'll be right back. Yeah. All right. We'll be right back. In a galaxy far, far away. No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember?

Right. In our own world, we're two space cadets. And totally normal humans. Sure. Totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars, discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time. We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right, and if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde. Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills.

Hey, join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar laughs, and super corny dad jokes. Listen to In Our Own World as a part of the My Cultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes. Most of the time.

When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition. It's culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask,

a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Santos! Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture.

We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you stream podcasts. It was December 2019 when the storyHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite.

I got swept up in Kabir's journey. But this was only the beginning in a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron, and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And we're back. All three of us are in our athletic positions. We're ready. Three-point stance. Three-point stance. Slapping the floor like Bobby Hurley. I always think of Antoine Walker slapping the floor. I can go for it. Because he did that once.

And then I think got blown by immediately. Yeah. Um, just like floor slap. I feel like the floor slap, like a couple of people did it, got made to look very silly. And then it,

people were just like, we're not doing that anymore. It's still like a fun thing to do, but it's smart. It's the only one that does it that i believe like yeah colin sexson was the last one i saw do it and absolutely get embarrassed um so yeah i i think you're right folks have learned yeah all right so we are going to ask you questions uh you're going to give us the first answer that comes to mind on these like and you don't even think about it.

It's just, have you ever seen a action movie where like a bullet ricochets around and it's just like, you know? Yeah. That's kind of the vibe we're going for on this. We do need you to keep the thing moving fast though, because we get distracted very easily.

So Jabari, why don't you take the first one? Are you sure? I bequeath the first question unto you. Aaron, you're good with that? Yeah, we'll go with that. I guess. Alright. You can go back in time and actually change the outcome of a single NBA game from throughout history.

Which game are you choosing? Game 4 2021 Finals. Oh, okay. I think I know why that would be the case, but do you care to elaborate? Is that the block? Is that Giannis? Yeah, that was the block. Book dropped 42, got the ball stripped from him. We had it, had to go up 3-2.

Yep, the whole thing. It hurts. We can go to the next one. No, no, no, but Jack, let's actually go a little bit deeper on that. Do you think they have KD in this situation if they actually win that game? Would they need to have KD to win that game?

I think KD doesn't make the game that close. And yeah, I think nobody is stuffing Giannis in 2021, but I think if we win that game, that does stop. Yeah. It also feels very unfair to Giannis that he had to beat KD in the second round and then come back and beat him in the finals. But yeah, that man, that was a really fun finals. bodies with an NBA player and suddenly I have my skills, but in their body and everyone expects me to play as them. What do you, if you are faced with that situation, what's your reaction? Do you try to play? Do you immediately just get thrown out of the game? What's your, what's your

move? Fake injury. Fake injury. Yeah. That's smart. Non-act injury you yeah you twist your ankle immediately just uh can you still jump high yeah you can still jump high i mean you still have their body but like you you don't necessarily know how to like you don't yeah you yeah like a baby giraffe yeah exactly i think first i test it out because i'm overly confident anyway so i'll be like maybe in this body my skills transfer better and then i get ripped and like I air ball or something that I'm like, yeah, the first question would be, why is he shooting like that for me?

Cause I had an ugly, ugly jumper. Um, I've always wanted to be injured in an NBA game and then be carried off by a teammate, but be carried off like a baby, like with your legs legs around them like like you're being burped uh because yeah i i think i would need to be my size to to pull that off but

they are seven feet so you know they can make a a six footer look like a little baby that would specifically be weird because in this scenario you are zion so like yeah exactly a little bit yeah all right back to you jabari all, that would be a little bit weird. Yeah. All right. Back to you, Jabari. All right. That was good,

Aaron. But again, this is a fast segment. We need to keep this going. Yeah. So what is your boldest postseason or even play in prediction for this year? And he only adds play in prediction because he thinks the Lakers are

going to be the plan. And he wants to like, Oh, you think the Lakers are going to make it all the way to the final? That's crazy, man. Postseason prediction? I think the Warriors are going to get swept.

Ooh. So they're going to make it beyond the play and only to get swept in that first round? Yes. I like the Warriors, by the way, too. I just don't think they got it. Oh, you don't have to soften it. You know, this is a show.

That's the tone of the show. Don't worry. Yeah. Just hot takes, regardless. My bad. If you could bet on any fan base to make the in-arena challenge, like the Leia pre-throw three-pointer half-court,

which fan base are you betting on and what kind of odds do you need to make it worth your while i'm betting oregon the portland fan base yes okay okay i think that they got a secret amount of hoopers up there washington interesting oregon like they got real hoopers up there and i think that they take it personally that they don't get the respect they deserve so i think just to show everybody you get just a person from oregon or washington i think they'll put on a show dang that's that's a first usually everybody like picks their hometown or you know like the my boy andy he got up for the challenge a couple months ago and he kind of embarrassed me in front of my family.

So what did he do? That's OK. He's not listening. He probably isn't listening. He is a good friend. But you got to make your free throws, bro. Andy, they're free. Andy, free for a reason.

All right. Last one for me. Aaron, Jalen Rose recently said that men should be spending a minimum of a hundred dollars on their haircut a minimum of that and you know for me that's a little bit steep but what's the most that you'll spend on a given you know a pampering deal like just the regular garden variety like whether it's your haircut uh you know you spend that much you're sitting that much and beyond on you know i don't know pedicures or whatever anything i think i'll go 150 on hair in general my hair is braided so i have to like get it braided and get a fade right after so usually that's about 120 but if i really have to i'll go 150 to like 16 so it's a little bit different like jabari was trying to like get permission

for spending a lot of money on a pedicure there. You know? Or, you know, a pedicure. It's fine. Very specific. Manicure, pedicure, whatever. Some people would say a pedicure. Not me, but people would say a pedicure.

I've known people who do that, and it's normal, right? What's a good price for a pedicure? That's basically my final question. What should I be paying for a pedicure that's basically my final what should i be paying for a pedicure is she is she really trying to get me over on this price like is she um is jaylen rose's hair too good to be true yes it's performance enhancing i oh it is he got the spray we don't have to he got the little squish squish squish that he puts on the corner my barber he tried to put it on me i still got on my hair though so i don't need to do He got the little squish, squish, squish that he puts on the corner. My barber, he tried to put it on me. I still got on my hair, though, so I don't need to do that.

But it's going back a little. And you can tell that he uses the black little paint stuff. You can see it. Jack, can I actually amend my answer? Yeah. I don't know if you've seen these, but have you seen the bald dude lace front? They get the actual cut with it, and it looks smooth. I'm going to make my 2023 comeback

i'm gonna i'm gonna spend that hundred bucks on the bald dude legs front give me the sheen give me the you know give me the little powder give me all of that i need jalen rose in my life yeah absolutely i mean it seemed but he still has his hair right like you're not suggesting that it's all fake it's just he has a great head of hair. And also there is some performance enhancing. I don't know why he goes. He does the second thing. Like, you can tell he got a good lineup.

I think he just does it. Right. Or does it with the black little spray stuff on his eye? He don't need to do all that. Yeah. Okay. That seems fair to me. Kind of the only answer I've heard so far that makes sense on Jalen Rose's hair.

Alright, last question for you, Aaron. Jack or Jabari? Jabari. I was going to say the last day of Black History Month. If you do not, you are absolutely being canceled.

We're recording this on the last day of Black History Month. I technically combined you guys' names, so you'll never know who I chose. I mean... I don't think he did, but okay. You know what? I think he actually did. He did his with Jack

Barr. So it's like if Jabari and I were a celebrity couple, that's the name? That's how this goes so I'm still coming in second I'm still coming in second okay you're the only one that gets to keep your name Jack doesn't alright that's fair

well Aaron you have survived the gauntlet done it in style thank you so much for joining us on Miles and Jack got mad boosties where can people find you, follow you, hear you all that good stuff.

Uh, lock on sides. Um, I do it with my boy, Brendan clean every week. Uh, we usually do it either Wednesday or Thursday. We're doing it tomorrow specifically for no reason at all,

but Katie is, uh, making his debut. So we're doing a post game show. Uh, you can find me on Twitter. Thanks. Stupid stuff.

A Y R O N E D Aaron, Ed, same thing on Instagram, any comedy show. You see me in your town. the post game show uh if you can find me on twitter thanks stupid stuff at a y r o n e d erin ed same thing on instagram any comedy show you see me in your town i post them on instagram just stand up let me know there you go all right we got a tweet of the week from josiah and that concludes black history month 2023 and it's cody zeller chase down block on MB did not appreciate that but it's amazing Josiah is so good man when it comes to honestly a lot of different things but in particular

Twitter yeah that's his that's his he was on a Shaqton a fool over the all-star break that was pretty fun to watch yeah I went with him during the Super Bowl weekend nice He was on a Shaqton, a fool, uh, over the all-star break. That was pretty fun to watch. Yeah. I went with him during the Superbowl weekend. Nice. We asked for your boldest postseason or plan predictions.

Bar. He's always got to add the plan. Uh, and our boosties listeners of the week were, uh, Paul Garaventa Hawks. Don't make it in the East. Warriors.

Don't make it in the West. Don't even make it. Oh, no better now at Farron. L E tweeted. Are we even going to read this? Yes yes you want me to okay uh raptors in the eastern conference finals all right okay all right all right um sure i could see that we asked for bold all right so make sure you give us a follow on twitter at mad boosties that is gonna do it for us this week. We're back next week with more

NBA action. Talk to you then. Bye. Bye. Later. I'm Kerry Champion and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in

history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture.

Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refuse to ask for directions. It's Space Gem. There are no roads. Good point. So where are we headed?

Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world.